Darius Baxter is Co-Founder, Executive Director & Chief Engagement Officer of the social impact organization GOOD, a nonprofit created to crack the code of how to end childhood poverty in America.

While pursuing his B.A. in Women’s Studies at Georgetown, Darius had every intention of following in his mother’s footsteps by becoming a public-school teacher. It was not until a chance encounter with political strategist Frank Luntz on campus one day that he began to understand: lasting change only happened one community; one block; one family at a time. After barely making it through a childhood marred by the murder of his father, homelessness, and constant trauma, Darius decided to go back to his community fueled by his commitment to provide every child a fair shot in life.

Only a few short years later Darius’ decision has affected the lives of hundreds of young people and their families living in poverty in Washington, D.C. He would go on to work with his co-founders to lead GOOD from an idea on a white board in their dorm room to an organization backed by the Ford Foundation that develops the skills, hires, and invests in young people in communities like the one in which he grew up. His work has been featured by everyone from the U.S. Department of State and 60 Minutes to NY Times Columnist David Brooks and TED.

Prior to co-founding GOOD, Darius’ work on Capitol Hill led to the introduction of gun control legislation to increase universal background checks. He was subsequently elected as one of the youngest Delegates to the Democratic National Convention in 2016 after helping steer a leading presidential campaign. Before politics, he was a community organizer dating back to his early college days when he mentored youth in the juvenile justice system and built-out a reading program for kids living in a public housing projects near his school.

When asked Darius how he stays humble despite all he’s accomplished at such a young age, he responded that he has nothing to celebrate when there are still millions of children growing up in poverty every day in this country. He said his work is far from over.